Flush system arrangement



United States Patent 72] Inventor Clifford 1). Peterson Manhelitown,Iowa 730,296

May 20, l 968 Nov. 24, 1970 1 Lennox Industries Inc.

a corporation of Iowa R FLUSH SYSTEM ARRANGEMENT 8 Claims, 6 DrawingFigs.

U.S. CI. Int. Cl. Field of Search Appl. No. Filed Patented AssigneeReferences Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 330,683 11/1885 Dick 332,333Elford 137/240 2,059,733 11/1936 Heisser.... 137/240 2,278,033 3/1942'Arnold 137/238X 2,580,547 1/1952 Ho11croft.. 137/240 3,028,875 4/1962Alguire 137/238X 3,247,969 4/1966 Miller 137/563X PrimaryExaminer-C1arence B. Gordon Artorney Molinare, Aliegretti, Newitt &Witcoff Pafenfed "Nov. 24, 1970 v nvvu/wm. CZ. /FFORD a PETERSON A7'70RNEY5 Sheet A TTOR/VE Y5 Patented Nov. 24, 1970 adapted to wash allthis method feasible.

An jobject' of the present invention is to provide a flush 1 I LUSIIY STE M ARItANGEMENT aAcKonoun-o OFTHE INYENTION This invention relates toa fl ush system arrangement and, more particularly, to a flnsharrangement for areservoir, as, for example, in ahumidifier, which hasno moving 'parts and is a v :residu'e accumulated orifthe bottom of thereservoir down adrainopenih g.

ble that this'residue be removed from the reservoir. A

One method of cleaning the residue from the bottom of a reservoir hasbeen to; remove the reservoir from the humidifier and manually cleansame-Some reservoirs have been provided with a drain'openin'g' in thebottom? and a stream of water was from the bottom of the, reservoir.However, in some arrange-- merits, accesslto the top ofthe reservoir wasdifficult, making system a'rrangement for a reservoir, as,forieirample,in a humidifier, which requires no moving parts'and is easy to fabricateand maintain.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a flush systemarrangement fora reservoir comp 'isinga distribution channel having slotlike' openings therein constructed and arwhenwater evaporates, mineralsalts remain. The amount a of residu'is dependent upon the quality ofthewater, which 'canvary considerably between different locations. Itisdesiraflushed through from a hose. from above to clean out residue of3 minutes of fill cycle time.

In operation,whenever the humidistat( not shown) senses a need for morehumidity, it energizes the control "relay 28,

which, in turn, energizes the heating element 26. Atthe same time, thesystem blower (not shown) in the furnace 15 will be started, if it hasnot already been placed in operation..Wh'en the hurniclistat issatisfied, the control relay 28 isdeenergized, shutting off the'heatingelement 26. The system blower will also be deenergized at this timeprovided that the; blower operation is notrequired by other controls.

During normal operation, the power and the water supply to a thehumidifier is left operative and it, will b'eunderstood that during thesummertime or' other periods where humidificatioii is not required, thehumidistat is set I to an off-position,

I whereby. the heating element 26 will be rendered inoperative.

ranged to create successive Whirlpools adjacent the bottom of thereservoir for flushing all residueon fthe bottom toward'a drain opening.Other objects and advantages of the present in- 7 vention will bernademore apparent hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION orTn -DRAw No The specific detailsof a,presentlypreferred form of the presentinvention and. their modeofoperationwill bemade; mostmanifest and pa'rticularly pointed out inclear, concis'e' and exact terms in-c'onjunction with the accompanyin'gdrawing, wherein:

" FIG. 1' is 'a perspectiveview of a. humidifier embodying the presentinvention'with parts beingbroken away'forclarity;

FIG. 2'is a sideview of the humidifier of FIG. 1', with a side coverremoved to more clearly illustrate the reservoir pan assembly therein; aFIG. 3 isa planview of the reservoir pan assembly; 7 FIG. 4 isacross-sectional view ofthereservoir pan assembly taken gene'rally'along'the line 4 4 of FIGQ3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the reservoir pan taken generallyalong line S SofI IG A;and I 1 FIG, 6 is a cross-sectional view of thereservoir pan taken generally alonglinej6-j6 ofFlG 4.

Tl-IEBREFERRED FORM OF THE INVENTION l 'Referring now toFiGS. 1 and 2,thereis illustrated a humidifierll0 embodying the flushcycle of thepresentinvention. Basicallyfthehumidifier 10 comprises a base orframejll DESCRIPTIQN OI' Considering briefly the operation of the flushoycle, the clock timer 32 is operative to open the flushvalvejdandxfill-valve 21. .Water will flow into the distribution chahiiel36 within thereservoirmeans -and bedischarged therefromin Iaspecific manner, so as toflush residuals from'the elongated flat bottom of the reservoir means 25into the drain rne'ans34.

The flushing continues for approximately 3% minutes. Then; the flushvalve closes and the till cycle controlstalgeover'to shutoff thefillvalve 21 after the reservoir: has again-been filled to a predeterminedlevel.

Also provided within the housing-I0 is-,a.-t'wo;stage safety overflowprotection arrangement, which includes an overflow safety'probe 38.Formed'intlie bottomof drain compartment in the reservoir means 25is anoverflowdrain opening 62' which communicates directly with the drainbody:41 that in turn is connected to a drain conduit 44. The flush valve30"extends intothe drain body 41 forcontrollinglthe'flow from a drainopening 60 in the bottom of the main compartment of the reservoir paninto the drain body 41. Thereservoirmeans.

including the reservoir pan and drain body may be formed viewed.

which is adapted to be mounted to a duct or airplenum l4.

Housing 12 eri cioses the base- '11 and components secured return orsupplyairplenum toa furnace' l5. Provided within the housing l2'on basell'arecomponents for controllingjthe trol transformer23. Theeontroltransformer 23 is adaptedto convert line voltage, 'norm'a llyll'OQvoltsJo controlvoltage, normally 24 volts. As will be set forth invmore detail h f l- T hu fieniflrnay' be mounted either in.the,

hereinafter, the fill valve'2l is normally operative in order tomaintain acrinstantwater level within the reservoir means 25.

Water evaporation is accomplished within the humidifier 10 by thefollowing components: heating element 26, control relay 28, the controltransformer 23 and a humidistat, not

ln-the event of failure of either theflush valve.30, or the'fill valve21, water will be communicated from the main compartmentdefined in thereservoir means-25 through the irid'epen v dent overflow draincompartment 40 within the reservoir"- means 25 and-the drain body 41 tothe carry-off drain-44..The'

overflow safety probe 38 ;"whichis incircuit with .t hejcom" .ponents oncircuit board 16, will shut off the fill valve.21 in the event thedrainline becomes plugged.

Also provided in the humidifier 10is a safety limit control 46. Thecontrol 46 is a hermetically sealed therrnal fuse; which;

is in circuit with theheating element 26 and will function, to

terminate operation of theheating element-26 if the'tempera ture withinthe reservoirmeans 2'5 exceeds-a predetermined value, as, for example,;220 F. The bracket 47 helps supp'ort thedrain body 41 in the housing '12.

Turning now to FIGS. .3, 4, 5 and 6, there is better illustrated theconstruction of the reservoir means 25,,and, more particularly, thedistribution arrangementw ithin the-reservoir means 25-for effecting aflushing of all residue from the planar bottom of the reservoir means 25to.a drain body dl'fand'then to drain conduit The reservoir means 25comprises" a generally boxlike member having a bottom 48,substantially,-

plied to the reservoir means 25 through water inlet 56a in inlet means56. The water inlet 56a is adapted to communicate with the fill valve21. The inlet' means 56 comprises the water inlet opening 56acommunicating with the distribution channel 36 and an inlet opening 56for receiving the heater element. The water is adapted to be dischargedfrom the reservoir means 25 through a drain opening 60, whichcommunicates with the drain body 41. A separate drain opening 62 isprovided in the bottom of the overflow drain compartment 40 forcommunicating the drain compartment 40 with the drain body 41 and thedrain conduit 44.

Wall means 68 at the rear of the reservoir means 25 cooperate with wall52 to define an overflow compartment 69 for receiving water from themain reservoir compartment 48 and conveying same into-the overflowcompartment 40.

Defined at the front of the reservoir means 25 is a forwardly extendingU-shaped wall member 70, which cooperates with wall 51 to define a smallchamber 72 which communicates with chamber 48 andreceives the waterlevel probes l8, l9 and therein.

By reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, it is seen that flanges 76 and 78 extendoutwardly from the sides of the reservoirmeans 25. Formed in the flangesare key hole type slots 77 and 79, respectively, for facilitatingconnection of the reservoir means to the base 11 of the humidifier 10.It will be understood that suitable headed pins, screws or the likemembers are secured to the housing 12 and extend outwardly therefrom.The large portions of the key hole slots 77 and 79 are adapted to fitover the headed pins and then upon movement of the reservoir means 25downwardly, the smaller portion of the key hole slots 77 and 79 engagewith the shanks of the headed pins, whereby the reservoir means will beretained in position within the housing 12.

A feature of the present invention is the arrangement for flushing allresidue from the flat elongated bottom of the reservoir means. Thedistribution channel 36, which is positioned in the reservoir means hadslotlike openings therein, which are constructed and arranged to createsuccessive Whirlpools within the reservoir, which whirlpools cooperatewith one another in the manner of an auger to move residue from one endof the reservoir adjacent the inlet means 56 toward and through thedrain opening 60 adjacent the other end of the reservoirsThedistribution channel 36 is defined by a generally inverted U-shapedmember adapted to have one side 80 thereof abut the front wall 51 of thereservoir means and having the other side 82 adapted to abut a flange 74extending upwardly from the bottom 48 of the reservoir to help retainthe distribution channel 36 in place.

Provided in the wall 82 of the distribution channel 36 are a pluralityof slotlike openings 84. The openings 84 extend upwardly from the bottomof the reservoir and are disposed at an acute angle with respect to thelongitudinal axis of the distribution channel 36 to create a pluralityof successive whirlpools along the length of the distribution channel.The distribution channel includes an end wall 85 having an elongatedslotlike opening 86 therein, which is similar to the slotlike openings84. As best seen in FIG. 4, the top wall of the distribution channel isinclined downwardly and converges with the bottom toward end wall 85.The arrows in FIG. 3 indicate generally the water discharge patterncreated by the water discharging from each of the openings 84 and 86.

Provided in the wall 51 of the reservoir are a plurality of openings 89and 90 for permitting water to pass form the main chamber within thereservoir means 25 into the chamber 72 defined on the forward portion ofthe reservoir means for receiving the probes 18, 19 and 20.

in the event that there should be a stoppage of the drain opening 60, ormalfunction of flush valve 30, water will overflow from the maincompartment in reservoir means 25 through the recessed portion 92 in therear wall 52 into the overflow chamber 69 defined to the rear of thereservoir means 25. The water will then flow from the overflow chamber69 into the 'drain compartment 40 throu h an access opening provided bya recessed area 94 define in the rear wall 52. From the draincompartment 40, the water will be discharged through the drain hole 62into the drain body 41, and then into the conduit 44.

The elongated slots 84 and 86 within the distribution channel 36 aredisposed in a manner to effect most desirable movement of residues fromthe bottom 48 of the reservoir pan 25 to the drain. The openings 84extend'upwardly from the bottom of the reservoir and are disposed'atgenerally a 45 angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of thedistribution channel 36. Further, the openings 84 are spaced equallyalong the length of the distribution channel and in a presentlypreferred form of the invention, there are five such openings 84. Asimilar opening 86 is provided in the sidewall of the distributionchannel for creating a like whirlpool in the area adjacent the drain 60.Opening 86 extends upwardly from the bottom of the reservoir means. Theaxis of the opening 86 diverges about 5 from the longitudinal axis ofthe distribution channel. As an example of the relative size of theopenings in one presently preferred form of the invention, thedistribution channel is about 6% inch long and the openings 84 arespaced 1 9/16 inch wide by 7/32 inch high. The opening 86 isapproximately inch wide by 3/32 inch high.

While I have shown a presently preferred form of the invention, it isobvious that it is intended in the appended claims to cover all suchchanges and modifications as may be within the true spirit and scope ofthe invention.

lclaim:

1. A reservoir flush arrangement comprising an elongated reservoir panhaving an inlet opening and outlet opening, said outlet opening being inthe bottom thereof, distribution means in said pan adjacent one side ofsaid bottom communicating with said inlet opening for receiving fluidand discharging same onto said bottom to flush all residue on saidbottom into said outlet opening, said distribution means including wallmeans having a plurality of openings therein for discharging jets offluid in a predetermined fashion from said distribution means to createsuccessive Whirlpools along the bottom to move residue toward the outletopening, said plurality of openings comprising a plurality of slotsspaced apart along the major axis of the reservoir pan in said wallmeans.

2. A reservoir flush arrangement as in claim 1 wherein said slots extendupwardly from adjacent the bottom of said'reservoir pan and said slotsare greater in height than in width.

3. A reservoir flush arrangement as in claim 1, wherein the outletopening is at one end of the reservoir panand the slots are angled withrespect to the major axis of the reservoir pan for discharging jets offluid so as to create successive swirls of fluid to flush all residuetoward said one end of the reservoir pan and into said outlet opening.

4. A reservoir flush arrangement as in claim 1, wherein said bottom isflat and elongated.

5 A reservoir flush arrangement as in claim 4, including means forcontrolling flow of fluid to said inlet opening to periodicallyintroduce fluid into said distribution means for flushing the bottom ofsaid reservoir pan. A reservoir flush arrangement as in claim 5 whereinsaid reservoir pan includes a main compartment and a separate draincompartment having a drain outlet therein, and an overflow compartmentfor receiving fluid from said main compartment and conveying same tosaid separate drain compartment.

7. A reservoir flush arrangement as in claim 1 wherein the internalcross section of the distribution means is reduced uniformly from theinlet end toward the opposite end.

8. A reservoir flush arrangement as in claim 6 wherein a drain body isdisposed beneath the reservoir pan for receiving fluid discharged bothfrom the outlet opening and the drain outlet.

